Baseball Headline

Head coach Kevin O’Sullivan, junior right-hander Keenan
Kish (Worcester, Pa.), junior left-hander Daniel Gibson (Lutz, Fla.)
and sophomore outfielder/right-hander Justin Shafer (Lake Wales, Fla.)of the Gator baseball team met with the media on Thursday prior to practice.
The Gators will begin their season on Feb. 15, when Duke visits McKethan
Stadium for the opener of a three-game series.

Head
Coach Kevin O’Sullivan

On
the Gators’ pitching staff this season:

“I
think it starts with (Jonathon) Crawford and (Karsten) Whitson, obviously; we’ve
also got some older guys like (Keenan) Kish and (Daniel) Gibson who we will
obviously lean heavily on this year. But, we also have some freshmen who are
throwing the ball really well through the fall and into the spring now. We do
like our depth, but we’ve got to get a bunch of young guys out there early and
kind of get their feet wet.”

On
outlook of finding a third starting pitcher:

“The
outlook is positive; we just don’t know who it is yet. Probably by next weekend
we’ll have a much better idea. There are some guys fighting for those weekend
spots right now, but we’ve still got a few more scrimmages to go until we firm
that up.”

On
the benefit of Keenan Kish, who can start, close or be a middle reliever:

“It’s
extremely valuable; we would like to start him because I think he has earned
the right to do that. If we don’t have any options at the end of the game, then
we’d be forced to put him in. But, I do feel comfortable right now that he has
put himself hopefully in a good position to start.”

On
placing a veteran in the third starting position instead of a freshman:

On
the sophomores having the advantage to have gone to the College World Series
last season:

“Well,
I don’t think there’s anything that can replace that. The experience that they
got last year, not only playing in the SEC, but having a chance to advance; I
think it does nothing but help with their development and with helping the
younger players as well. There’s no substitute for experience and certainly
some of those guys have played in some big games.”

On
Justin Shafer’s development:

“I
think he’s a much better defender. You’ve got to remember, he was an infielder
coming out of high school; he hadn’t played a whole lot of outfield, and I
thought he got better as the season went on but this year he’s totally
different. He’s a really good defender, but other than his defense, we’ll bump
him up a few spots in the lineup and we’ll expect him to hit right in the
middle. The one thing you will see out of him this year is that he’ll be
pitching a lot more. I don’t know what his role will be; he’s one guy that we’re
looking to put at the end of the game because he’s competitive and he’s got
good enough stuff to do it. I’d feel very comfortable with him with the lead on
the mound to get the last three outs of the game.”

On
the team being exciting to watch this year:

“I
think every year is exciting; I think every team is exciting [to watch].
Obviously, we’re going to have a different identity, but hopefully it will be a
winning identity.”

Keenan
Kish

On
what the spring workouts have been like:

“Just
working hard; making sure I’m prepared to do whatever I need to do, whenever
I’m called upon, and just ready to help out in any situation possible.”

On
preparation towards earning the third starting pitching job or being a closer:

“As
far as preparation, being in the bullpen and then as a closer; the daily
routine, getting yourself ready before the game and during the game; it’s a
little bit different. But honestly, pitching is the same; just going out there
and trying to win. I feel comfortable with doing both.”

On
the difference in being a starter than a reliever:

“It
would be a little bit different, but at the end of the day it’s still pitching.
I still have to go out there; got to go play; got to go execute. It’s just a
different timing of the ballgame but no, no real difference.”

On
what pitches he has refined during the off-season:

“I’ve
really been working on my changeup; really developing that as a third pitch to
be able to have in my back pocket. Also, I’m just trying to develop all of my
pitches.”

On
closing last year during the NCAA Gainesville Super Regional:

“Closing
last year was great, from a personal standpoint. It was a real confidence
booster and it kind of gave me some momentum, especially going to Omaha and
pitching against South Carolina. I was feeling really good and our team had a
good run; it was just a great momentum builder.”

On
helping out the younger guys on the team:

“A
lot of new faces and new personnel; really, I’m just trying to get these guys
ready as much as possible by showing them the ropes; how to go about their
business each day and making sure they’re doing well in the classrooms so they
don’t have to worry about that when they get on the field and they can
concentrate and get their work in here.”

On
freshmen pitchers that have impressed him:

“Obviously,
they’re a really talented group of guys. Tucker Simpson has really been
throwing the ball well; Eric Hanhold, Jay Carmichael, Mike Vinson and Danny
Young has a great left arm. We’re going to be pretty deep and for years to come
those guys are going to be really solid pitchers.”

Daniel
Gibson

On
the pitching staff as a strength of team this year:

“When
it comes to the pitching staff, it’s a group of guys in which maybe not
everyone has had their shot to have a prominent role, but we have some
experience. Maybe we won’t be pitching the same as we have in the last couple
of years, but it’s definitely a strength this team is going to have to rely on;
and we’re all ready for that.”

On
him and Keenan Kish trying to figure out their role this year:

“I
think for both of us; we have the same goal, and that’s just to pitch and
contribute to the team. They haven’t really told us, either of us, what our
role is, but we have to go out there and do the best we can for however many
innings they throw us in and just work hard to get better.”

On
possibly winning that third starting job:

“Yes;
me and Keenan (Kish) are fighting for that same end goal. We’re fighting for
that last starting spot on the weekend; but whatever role I’m put in to help my
team, I’m willing to do that.”

On
new leadership roles in the bullpen:

“There’s
leadership out of different guys this year. The last two years was the same
core group here and that kind of chews up the majority of the innings. They’re
not here anymore though, so I’d say maybe the workload and backbone are not
there anymore; but there are guys here that are ready to step up into those
roles and are ready to take advantage of the opportunities. I feel like it has
to be a group effort in that aspect, not just one or two guys. It’s everyone
that has been here, helping out the new guys, because they’re going to be a big
part of the team; especially the pitching staff this year.”

On
what he needs to do to be effective this year:

“I’d
say consistency. Last year, I kind of had more ups than downs but there were
still more downs that I would have liked. I think this year it’s just trying to
stay more consistent every time out, and building off from the previous outings.”

On
pitches he’s been working on this year:

“An
overall command of all three; but then also I’ve been working a lot on my
off-speed especially; changeup, slider; trying to get those downs and be more
consistent.

Justin
Shafer

On
how he feels this year:

“I
think the biggest thing of having been here one year is that you know what to
expect; you’ve seen a lot of the people you’re going to face hitting-wise; I
mean as a freshman, you don’t really know what to expect pitching-wise. I know
you get here and it’s kind of overwhelming with everyone throwing 90 mph
pitches every day; so getting used to that, you kind of know what to expect
every day, in and out with the SEC pitching.”

On
what he thinks of pitching staff:

“Our
pitchers grind. I think we have a great pitching staff compared to anyone in
the country. I mean you’ve got (Jonathon) Crawford throwing on Fridays, and
everyone else that we’ve got behind him. Everyone is going to throw well.”

On
becoming a better hitter by going against the team’s pitchers:

“Definitely;
I don’t think I will face anyone better than [Jonathon] Crawford.”

On
his role pitching this year:

“Anyway
I can help, I’ll be excited. I don’t know how much that will end up being, but
whatever helps us win, I’m ready to do it; whether it’s relieving or closing.”

On
having to prepare for both (hitting and pitching) now:

“I
still spend most of my time usually on the fields; they just take it easy
throwing-wise since I’ll be pitching more, so I don’t throw as much in
practice; I kind of just hit and during scrimmages I just throw the ball.”

On
being a potential closer:

“If
I get it, I’ll love it. I love being in those situations of having to close out
games; I love pressure situations so if they ask me to do it I’ll do the best I
can.”

On
going to the College World Series as a freshman:

“You’ve
kind of been through everything you can as a freshman, so you now know what to
expect; there’s not going to be anything this year that I haven’t seen last
year so hopefully I’ll help the freshmen out since they haven’t been through it
yet. I know the struggles that I had last year so hopefully I can help the
freshmen with what I went through.”

On
hitting in the middle of the order:

“I
think I’m definitely going to have to adjust at the plate; at the bottom of the
order you see more fastballs. I will see more off-speed pitches now, so I have
to make sure I don’t miss the fastball when I get it because at the bottom [of
the order] if you miss one, you might get another; but as soon as you miss one
in the middle [of the order], you might never get another.”